


Guard The Night

by VisionaryGalaxy



Series: A Thousand Futures of Me and You [157]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Boys In Love, Don't copy to another site, Drabble, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Nightmares, Protective Stephen Strange, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 03:08:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19220344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VisionaryGalaxy/pseuds/VisionaryGalaxy
Summary: Nightmares had almost become a sign of domesticity for Stephen.





	Guard The Night

   It was late.

   Stephen’s room was dark, nearly pitch black with only the faintest shine coming from the window. Stephen found himself sitting up, back to the headboard, head tilting awkwardly in a vain attempt to see the stars. It was hopeless of course, though that never stopped him from pretending the light pollution didn’t exist.

   Beside him curled tightly in the welcoming comforter Tony dozed lightly, limbs twitching with increasing frequency. Stephen didn’t touch, didn’t wake him, not yet anyway. These days Stephen often woke shortly before the nightmares grew so bad that Tony would begin flinging arms and legs, instinct he supposed.

   Part of Stephen was fascinated by the way Tony’s body locked down when the nightmares began. Besides the minute shifting there were no signs at all, not until they grew worse. By comparison Stephen found himself to be a bit dramatic. He often woke with a scream dying on his lips and his heart thundering against his ribcage. Tony never made a sound.

   Tony’s head jerked and Stephen reached out calmly to press a firm hand to his shoulder. There were no words to say or sounds to make, only waiting until Tony grew still beneath the touch and finally an audible exhale signaling his wakefulness.

   Stephen drew his hand back almost instantly.

   A long moment passed with only the sounds of Tony’s now steady breathing breaking the tranquil silence of the air. Stephen stretched his neck back, tried to catch a glimpse of the moon, wondered what cycle it was on tonight.

   Tony moved tentatively, wearily as if Stephen didn’t know better then to stay stock-still. In slow increments Tony laid a hand on Stephen’s thigh beneath the blankets, the skin scalding where they touched. That was a good sign, if it had been a really bad one, Tony would have rolled over and away, putting distance between them.

   He could lie and say it didn’t hurt when that happened, but Stephen had never been very good at lying to Tony. Besides, it was fair considering Stephen usually resorted to leaving the room entirely after his own.

   Another five minutes passed or so Stephen guessed when Tony suddenly moved closer in one swift movement, laying his head firmly on his thigh and hip, arm stretching across his torso to hug him close like a body pillow, leg coming up to tangle with Stephen’s own.

   Not bad at all then, probably just a flash of images and brief reminder of less then pleasant times. Stephen felt himself relax for the first time since he woke, head resting on the wall and at this angle he finally caught sight of the half moon struggling to light its way.

   Fingers tapped against his side, once, twice, three times. _You can touch me_.

   Stephen carefully lifted a hand and carded it through Tony’s hair, trembling fingers trying to make the touch firm and grounding. He assumed he was successful when Tony lifted his head a bit so he could lean into the hand before promptly resting against him again.

   This was good. Stephen liked to make himself feel useful when Tony was struggling, anything but the all too familiar helplessness that often plagued him in these situations. It was why they came up with the tapping system after all, which had started as a joke but quickly developed into an easy way to communicate when distressed.

   Tap, tap. _Are you alright?_

   Stephen slowed his petting of Tony’s hair, could feel him tilting his head up to look at him in the gloom. He hummed, fingers tapping, pausing, tapping. _I’m ok_.

   Tony’s body relaxed against his own once again. Stephen allowed himself the ghost of a smile as he went back to soothing strokes, eventually lengthening them down his neck and spine. It was easy to pinpoint the exact moment Tony drifted back into unconsciousness, the grip around his waist going slack and his breath coming in steady little pants.

   It was odd how these actions soothed him. The routine of it, waking before Tony’s nightmare even got started, waiting patiently for whether or not his touch would be welcomed, communicating in a series of taps, the feeling of him slipping peacefully away, it was incredibly comforting.

   He wanted to laugh at himself a bit. Of all the things for him to associate domesticity with, it probably shouldn’t be nightmares but he also couldn’t imagine it being any different between them, given their…pasts.

   There was a soft grumbling from Tony, hands clenching absently against his skin for a moment. Stephen did chuckle then, lowly as he took the reprimand for what it was. For all that Stephen’s instincts when it came to Tony and his nightmares, the man was equally astute to Stephen’s nightly musings.

   Shifting carefully, Stephen slid down until he was a bit more comfortable and let his eyelids slide closed. Tomorrow he’d ask about the nightmare and Tony would go about it one of three ways. He’d look at Stephen blankly with a confused little pucker, having no memory of the short lapse of sleep, he’d shake his head as their eyes refused to meet, or he’d gruffly explain in the barest of terms.

   They would do it over coffee and tea, staring across the countertop, the conversation quickly moving on to something else after platitudes were exchanged. Routine, familiar, comforting, they weren’t exactly men of many words, not to each other. After all, why would they need to be when they knew each other so well already?


End file.
